Disappointed

Definitely not a 4.5 star, more like a 3 at best. Resort in disrepair, lack of food and drinks. No white wine, ran out of beer every day. No toi IV or tomato juice.No soap or hand towels in washrooms. Missing toilet seats. Lobby furniture filthy and damaged. What food there was was terrible. Room fridge never stocked. I assure you we aren’t fussy but expected more.... never again!!

Relaxing resort

Hotel was nice and clean friendly staff. Washrooms never had toilet paper but cleaned . Grounds need more lighting pretty dark and scary to get to restaurants at night. Entertainment was fair. Food was ok . The beaches were breath taking . Would I go again probably but to Veradero .

Feb 8 - 15

we have traveled many times and this is not our first trip to Cuba. We were very pleased with the Beach, room, and especially the service. thanx to Julio at the breakfast buffet . The downside is that the food was not even a 4 star and i know it's Cuba and we have visited in the past, i never went hungry but especially at breakfast to not have enough staff to cook eggs ( 10-20 ) in line always.no potatoes or bacon for the whole week, the only juice was orange tang.( cant live on chicken and past [... read more]a alone ) washrooms as per my wife were always short of TP and the guests were pigs but it needs to be cleaned up. the maid service and mini bar stock was not great we had to ask for water and shampoo on a daily basis and we tipped every where.will likely spend extra to go elsewhere but for a cheaper getaway in the winter it was just ok.

Beach and staff are absolutely amazing.

The beach, staff and resort were absolutely amazing. The food and hygiene definitely needed some work. I was there with a group of five from February 8 to February 15th. Three out of the five of us We're extremely sick. There were times when there was no soap or toilet paper in the main washrooms. I could deal with running out of bread, cheese etc however, hygiene is a necessity.

Beautiful beach, but the food is lacking.

As stated above. The beach is spectacular and I spent a lot of time on the beach. That part of the resort scores the highest marks. Clear blue water and smooth sand heading into the water. The resort is starting to show some age. Could be due to the hurricane. Some tiles on the front entrance are chipped off. In my room there were signs of water damage. I saw some paint start to bubble due to water damage. My room felt damp all the time. A lot of food was missing. Never saw a ban [... read more]ana or fench fries of any kind. There was mashed potato that was obviously from powder. At the snack bar there was no pizza or bread one day. The beef is very tough. Not the highest grade of beef. Needless to say I ate a lot of grilled chicken breast meat. Would give this resort 3.5/5. The people working there try their best everyday. You will feel taken care of.

Amazing resort

Amazing time! Will definitely be going back. I went with my daughter, and we met so many new friends. Friends we will keep forever. There is always something to do there. The people that work there make you feel as though you are part of their family. They take very very good care of you. And the beach.........perfection.

Mediocre

The rooms were okay. The staff is very friendly. There was a lot of cigarette butts all around the pool area. The wood on the beds by the pool could be replaced. The snack bars were often out of menu items most of the days. No soap in the bathrooms most of the time. Toilet paper was not replaced quick enough so you always needed to bring your own tissue. Several of the toilets had no seats-just the porcelain to sit on. The A’La Cart restaurants had some of the same food choices on the menu and [... read more] several of the items on the menu were not available. The beach was beautiful!!

Amazing resort

The Valentin perla blanca has got to be one of the best resorts that I have been to in Cuba. It was very clean and well taken care of. The staff was super friendly and always eager to help. The food was fantastic, always something different. The pools were very well maintained. I am already starting to plan my next trip to the Valentin perla blanca.

Stellar Beaches and Pools

Fantastic beaches and ocean. Both pools are amazing whether you like the quiet pool or the party pool. They have great shows and 3 times a week they have a local band playing in the main lobby. The beach pretty nights were fantastic.

Awesome Resort

The staff were absolutely amazing! The grounds, pools and rooms very well maintained. I would recommend going with the privilege package for access to a great bar, beach area and some decent a la carte restaurants. The buffet food was mediocre, but it's Cuba and they do their very best with what is available. My only compliant is the level of smoke in main common areas. I would like to see more non-smoking areas in the main lobby area and theatre.

Outstanding beach! Great resort!

We stayed at the resort from Jan 31 to Feb 7 and had a great time! The resort is very modern and clean and the staff does a wonderful job overall, everyone was very friendly and eager to please. The pools were amazing, very clean and the beach was breathtaking! We had no issues with the buffet, always lots of variety, especially the pastries! The only issue we had was with the lighting on the pathways at night, there is little to none. Also, our room keys stopped working at least 5 times through [... read more]out the week and we had to go back to the lobby to get them reprogrammed each time. It was really frustrating to come back from a great day at the beach only to discover that we were locked out of our room. The a la cartes were good, we did French and Italian (twice) but only because that's all that was left, so book them as soon as you arrive if you want your choice!! Overall it was a great resort for the money and we would definitely return.

Don't do it

Let me preface this by saying that I have been to Cuba several times and I am used to the imperfections that come with a Cuban holiday. The food was TERRIBLE. Normally at a Cuban buffet you can find something no matter how picky you are. And yes, you can expect repetition. But this was disgusting. And good luck finding vegetables. Even the a la cartes, which are normally pretty decent in Cuba, were terrible. I ordered chicken fricassee (white sauce) in the French restaurant, and it came i [... read more]n a tomato sauce (canned). When I pointed this out, the waiter said, "chef changed it" and walked away. The beef was like leather, and the fish very overcooked. There were many shortages. Our first day, we went to the a la carte for breakfast and were told no bacon, no ham, no cheese. After day one, and for the remainder of the trip, no gin and tonic. They also ran out of white wine, and I understand also many other things, but they weren't things I eat or drink. Only one type of bread. Yellow (corn?) bread for EVERYTHING. Yellow buns for burgers and hot dogs, yellow buns at every meal. Even at the French and Italian restaurants where I hoped to see a decent baguette - more yellow buns. There was nowhere to grab something to eat and go. The "snack bar" was a sit down restaurant with burgers, hot dogs and sandwiches. A nightmare for gluten-free or vegetarian eaters. There was supposed to be snacks in the preferred lounge, but there never was. I ordered a cappuccino and watched the waiter smell the cream, call another guy over who smelled it as well, poured it out, and stuck his finger in it. Another guy came over and did some sniffing and stirring as well. I didn't need a cappuccino with questionable cream. I told them never mind and left. The first day, on four occasions, staff entered our room unannounced. No chain locks or swing bar locks to prevent this. After locking the bathroom door (I deemed this necessary after the many intrusions), I was trapped inside and could not get out until my husband freed me from the other side. FYI - all the rooms are the same. If you pay for an upgrade or an ocean view, the room is identical (but with an ocean view). Every day was a game of "Wonder which towels we will get today?" Day one, two bath towels. No bath math, no facecloths, no hand towel. When I asked for facecloths, they said they didn't have any and would get one for me tomorrow. I then asked for a mat or another towel to use as a bathmat and I got that. I did get two facecloths the next day, but when the cleaners came the following day, gone were the facecloths, hand towels and bathmat again. So if I ran into them, I could sometimes get something, but otherwise, just the two bath towels. Basic stuff - we need the basics here! No option to get fresh beach towels. You had to "try" to dry them on your deck every day. Good luck with that with the humidity. Same sheets all week too. And yes, we tipped every day. As a "privilege" guest, we got robes in our rooms. On our second to last day, the housekeepers took them away when they cleaned the room. I guess they were short of those too, and needed them for the next guests. The housekeepers also liked to shout to each other from room to room the entire time they clean the rooms. Constant yelling in the hallways for hours. Hope you don't want to sleep in. It was VERY loud. Water pressure was a mere trickle. Showering took FOREVER. One person I spoke to was without power in his room for two days. In the lobby/restaurants/public baths, without exaggeration, 100% of the time there was no liquid soap in the dispenser. They would place one of those tiny hotel bar soaps on the counter. When they were trying to be fancy, they would place the bar soap in a ceramic dish atop "decorative" rocks. The problem is, the rocks weren't smooth. You had to pick off the rocks to use the communal soap. And no paper towel either. No lights on the walkways - very dark at night. Bring your flashlight/cell phone. The beach was amazing, as is always the case in Cuba, and is what keeps us coming back. These things are small, but put together can ruin a vacation. With better management and very little investment these things can be fixed easily. Sunwing, you must insist these things are looked after or stop selling this resort.

Rundown Resort

Very disappointed in how it has been neglected in maintenance. Doors don't lock properly, toilets that don't flush, not enough bath towels to be changed every day, no change of beach towels, toilets around the pools and lobby are very dirty, no toilets around beach area at all considering this is a huge resort toilets are to be found only around pools or lobby. The food well this is not my first time in Cuba or Cayo Santa Maria, therefore I don't have high expectations in regards to the food  [... read more]but this was beyond Cuba' reputation for the food. The only positive side to this resort was the beach...and thank God for the good weather! Jan. 31 to Feb. 9,2020

2nd Visit! Can’t wait for the 3rd!!

This is my second time at this resort and I love it!! A la carte restaurants are wonderful! The Staff are wonderful always attentive and wanting to make your stay memorable! Pools are lovely and the beaches leave me speechless! The only downside is lack of pool towel exchange, though it’s easily solved by hanging up your towel!! Seriously cannot wait for next year! Thank you again for your warm hospitality!

Very nice place at the end of the cayo

This was our fourth time in this resort so just that speaks for itself. Last year we had some not so good experience and this year the management upgraded our room as a surprise, which was very nice and appreciated gesture. We also purchased the privilege package for the first time. We ended up eating and drinking in the non-privilege restaurants and bars anyway probably because we already new the people there. What was probably the most disappointing experience was the bottle of rum that was su [... read more]pposed to be a part of the welcome package. It has arrived on the third day and it was the cheapest white rum in the resort. I tried to explain to the ‘concierge’ person that I don’t drink that stuff and tried to exchange it for something worth bringing back home, but no success there. I think that if a guest spends couple hundred bucks on better package, trying to save couple CUCs on a bottle of rum by the management is simply not a good management decision. Will I go there again? Probably yes, because it is a good kiteboarding spot. Would I buy the privilege package again? Never.

Not a 5 star

No soap in the public washrooms,no facecloths in your room. Poor lighting on the walkways at night going for supper. Service was poor at meals.Ran out of food at the buffet often. Always had to ask for extra cutlery.Food was terrible.Not what we expected

Loved it

This was my first experience with Cuba and I'd definitely go back to the Valentin Perla Blanca. The food wasn't bad, you see a lot of the same things at the buffet, but they all taste fine. I really enjoyed the food we recieved while on excursions at restaurants. Great entertainment nightly, and our room was clean and exactly as described online. The grounds and the beach were perfect. Couldn't have asked for more out of our experience.

Amazing for the overall price

We arrived January 25, spent 10 days at this resort. On a late night flight from Montreal. It was our first time at a Valentin resort . The bus ride was approximately 1.5 hours with one stop on the way at another resort. We were able to purchase a couple of beers in the parking lot of the airport / or on the bus which made it very pleasant. The tour guide was friendly. My only complaint was that all commentary was in French. It seems that it is assumed you are Francophone if you come f [... read more]rom Quebec. Check in at the resort was quick. Unfortunately, we did not get the room we requested when we made the booking. We had specifically asked for an upper floor and a king size bed with the agent when booking the flight. The receptionist at the desk said they had no note of our request. The next two days were very unpleasant. Not only because of the Separate beds and location of the room on the bottom floor. Also because the room had not been prepared for guests. The smell of mildew and moisture was so strong it was intolerable. I literally slept with a piece of my clothing over my face. We went back to the desk the morning after our arrival and were told there were no other rooms available for two days. This definitely put a damper on our stay . However, on the third day they did move us from building 26 to 33. We finally got a king size bed on the 2nd floor. Building 33 also happened to be on the quieter side of the resort and close the best part of the beach. The beach itself was great at one end because it was much wider and quieter. There was little to no seaweed or rocks on that end of the beach . I would recommend asking for any of the buildings in the 30’s . The service people were very pleasant and accommodating throughout the resort . The food was as expected, tolerable. If you go to Cuba with low expectations regarding food then you will be ok. However, the beach barbecue sandwiches were great . If you are picky about food then you can find something to eat. Fresh fish, omelettes, salads, chicken.. Fruits were only papaya and pineapple. I searched for a banana but never saw one . I was told however the markets are full of a variety Of fruits . It was difficult at times to exchange $ as there was only one person to do this at one counter . The line ups were pretty long at times . The currency was peso used specifically for the resort ., We were there during the Super Bowl . The staff of course had not heard of this . However, we created our own party with some fellow Canadians in the “sports bar” ! The drinks and alcohol was plentiful! The general manager of the resort was there daily and very accessible. Overall, for the price point it was worth the 1225$ for ten days that we spent . We spent 200usd ( Cuban peso is 1/1 usd) in tips and souvenirs. The grounds were well maintained and pretty. I recommend bringing bug spray as the noseeums are pretty bad at times. Departure was well organized and for a small fee late departure is available 11 pesos per hour.

Bad Resort with a beautiful sea

Yes Cuba is poor and we keep coming back for the beautiful sea but unfortunately the resort got match worse since last year, no food NO FRUITS how can a tropical country have no fruits?! they run out of plastic cups everywhere! we had to keep our cups for the whole day, i was even offered by 1 of the bartender to make me a cup from a plastic bottle. we had to keep our blue towels for the pool for 7 days! they would run out of fresh towels by 9am and wouldn't restock. our bathroom was always dirt [... read more]y and smelled like mould, i had to call the cleaning lady and beg her to clean the bathroom properly and made sure she saw that i was leaving her tips! public bathrooms NEVER had soap. its a good resort needs MUCH better budget $$$ and management, its is not a 4 start resort anymore and its to bad, will be trying other resorts in santa clara now.

Gone downhill

Food and service was definitely not as good as 2 years ago or equal to star rating (hot dogs with everything)! Will not be going back and sorry I recommended to friends! Pillows suck! I found the expected tipping a bit much!